Arkansas falls to Ole Miss on the road

Junior Marshawn Powell led the University of Arkansas basketball team with 16 points and a season-high four blocks as the Razorbacks fell to the Ole Miss Rebels, 76-64, on Saturday at Tad Smith Coliseum in Oxford, Mississippi.

Arkansas (11-6, 2-2 SEC) had three scorers in double digits but dropped a tough road contest to the Rebels (15-2, 4-0). Sophomore BJ Young tallied 14 points and Hunter Mickelson added 10 points and eight rebounds in the loss.

“You have to give credit to Ole Miss,” head coach Mike Anderson said. “They are a good basketball team, but we were right there and needed to make some plays to get over the top. We showed some things out there today.”

Both teams looked to push the pace in the first half as Ole Miss started the game with a 7-2 lead. Arkansas battled back with defensive stops and forced turnovers to garner a 12-9 advantage. Both teams exchanged buckets and were led by their star scorers. The Hogs were led by Young, who tallied eight points in the first half. Ole Miss answered with the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer, Marshall Henderson, who added seven of his own, Henderson would finish the game with 16. It seemed as though the only thing that could stop the hurried pace were timeouts and both teams were subjected to a long one at the 5:37 mark of the first half as the lights at the arena went out and both teams were forced back into the locker rooms. Arkansas came out of the 25 minute stoppage looking stagnant on offense, the Rebels capitalized, going on a 10-5 run into the half.

It was a bizarre game,” Anderson said. “I have never been a part of something like that.”

The second half began much like the first one ended for the Razorbacks as the Rebels opened with a 7-2 run to push the lead to 41-28. Arkansas answered with a 6-0 run of its own on two dunks by Hunter Mickelson and a scoop shot by Young. This forced an Ole Miss timeout with 15:06 left in the game. Both teams exchanged baskets as the pace started to quicken. Kikko Haydar nailed a three with 12:35 left to cut the lead to four at 48-44. After a Jarvis Summers jumper, Reginald Buckner was called for a flagrant one on Powell. Powell hit both free throws and then scored from the block to cut the lead to two. A Ricky Scott driving layup tied the game at 50 with 10:47 to play.

The Rebels sustained the Razorback comeback, answering with a 17-4 run that featured four makes from beyond the arc and a three-point play by Summers. The Rebels went 6-of-12 in the second half from distance after going 0-of-8 in the first. Ole Miss’ lead was sustained after the teams went back-and-forth and Arkansas dropped its second SEC contest of the season, 76-64.

The Razorbacks return home to host Mississippi State on Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 8 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena and the game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast.